Liar Liar
by eternalglitch
Summary: He lives among humans. He interacts with ayakashi. Clearly, Natsume Takashi is a human with incredible spiritual powers. But even Madara, his constant companion, doesn't know the full truth of it. Not yet, anyways. A story on where it isn't Natsume that can see youkai, but humans that can see him. AU.
1. Prologue

**_Ever since I was little, I have seen strange things. These are beings known as youkai, but the strangest thing of it all is that the humans are somehow able to see me._**

"Oh, are you all right? Where are your parents?"

Natsume paused and looked back. "My parents?" He repeated, curious. He glanced around. "Dad's right here, though?"

The lady that had asked immediately stiffened. "Ah…what?" She asked. "Your… father?" Her eyes darted around, ghosting right over Natsume's dad, and then darting back to stare in bewilderment at Natsume. "Where exactly do you mean, little boy?"

"Enough, Takashi," his father said gently, grasping his hand. "Hurry, humans do stir up a fuss when they think a child is in danger. It's one of their good points," his father added with a gentle grin, leading Natsume back into the forest.

"Okay," Natsume chirped. "Um, bye bye! I have to go home!" He waved at the lady before taking off with his father at his side, the wind blowing along with him, and leaving the human to stare after the strange boy who swiftly vanished into the night.

Later that night, when the moon was full and round in the sky, Natsume yawned. "How come she can see me but couldn't see you?" He asked, settling down into the hollow of the old tree. "It's always like that. Is there something wrong with me?"

"What? No! No, no, no, of course not." His father pulled him into his lap, gently tying a white mask around Natsume's head. "You're an ayakashi just like me. Always remember that."

The two stared out into the forest, and a few droplets of rain started to hit the leaves above them. A few bright blue flowers, growing along a vine, swayed when they were hit.

"Your mother was the same as you, you know." Nastume's father looked at him then, his own white mask gently blowing in response to the incoming storm's wind. "She could be seen because of the human blood in her family. In _your_ family."

"Human blood?" Natsume sat up. "What do you mean by human blood, Dad?"

"Your grandmother was human. She was well known in a town not far from here, and went by the name of Natsume Reiko. You look just like her, actually, which is why we gave you her last name, Takashi." His father shifted. "She was incredibly gifted, and able to see all youkai and interact with them in a way that most humans can't. One day she met an ayakashi, and they had your mother together."

"Oh." Natsume solemnly stared back at his father, then looked at the flowers again. "Why is that a bad thing?"

His father jerked, arms tightening around Natsume. "What makes you say it is a bad thing?"

"Because, you know… you look so scared, Dad."

His father stiffened, the wind brushing the white paper mask from his face so Natsume could see his wearied eyes. He stared back at Natsume for a moment, then turned and stared at the brilliant blue flowers for a long minute. "Having human blood is incredibly rare, Takeshi." He finally said. "Listen closely, all right? You'll always smell like a human, just enough that others might try and hurt you. You'll be stronger because of this blessing, but also weaker. In cold weather your body gets weaker faster. You need food and sleep, and dying because of wounds or even a fever is more likely than most ayakashi. You need to be careful. Never forget this."

Natsume swallowed, throat dry. Worry fluttered in his stomach, and he licked his lips nervously. "Is that… how mom…?"  
His father gently rubbed his head, and the two ayakashi stared back out as the rain started to fall all around them, the two beings safe and warm underneath the leaves of the tree.

"Yes," his father had finally said, and that had been the end of that conversation.

Three months later Natsume's father was gone, exorcised and destroyed in a flash of light, and the human child that had been reported as being potentially kidnapped by ayakashi was sent off to live in an orphanage.

A _human_ orphanage.

And none but Natsume Takashi was the wiser.

* * *

The only things that Natsume had on him when he entered the human's world was his dirty, ripped blue kimono and the old notebook his father had kept hidden away in their home. Natsume wasn't sure what was inside it because he couldn't read yet, but he felt that the strangely shaped book filled with scribbles must be important. Sometimes he would stare at it when he was certain he was alone, but other than that he always made sure to keep it safe, nearby, and hidden.

At first, Natsume was timid but quiet. He was judged to be about five years old, and didn't quite grasp the dangers of his situation until the ayakashi started following him around, drawn by the temptation of a defenseless human with strong spiritual powers. Natsume tried to tell them it was _different,_ that he wasn't a human, but it did him no good. The longer he stayed among the humans, the stronger and more prominent his own human stench seemed to get.

He tried to run away, back to his forest where he had once fallen asleep under his father's kind gaze, where he was always safe and cared for, but the humans caught him. It wasn't just one attempt either, but several, at least enough that Natsume finally accepted that it was an impossible dream. He was scolded each time, and when the other kids started to bully him for startling at shadows and flinching whenever they spoke to him, it was decided that Natsume Takashi was a problem child.

He was shipped off to the first foster family not long after that.

Natsume was scared, scared of humans and scared of the ayakashi that no longer seemed so friendly as they had when he had played under the shade of the forest's trees. He started to hide from everything and everyone, but quickly learned that if he ignored one or the other he would get hurt. It seemed it was possible for an ayakashi to bruise, he noted at the age of six, hiding his arms in long sleeves when the humans that took care of him started to drink and take out financial issues on him. Natsume thought they were nice- surely they were, they took him away from the orphanage- but still, it must be his fault that they were having trouble. It must be because he was an ayakashi that this happened. It must be because he attracted ayakashi…

Soon the seasons changed, and Natsume was shoved onto a new family not long after. This home was even farther away from his forest, another city altogether, and Natsume no longer dreamed of blue flowers and the smell of the forest after it rained or the view of the night sky. Instead, nightmares chased after him relentlessly, and he tried to numb himself to the silent treatment of the other children at his new school.

Maybe it was better that they didn't talk to him.

The ayakashi grew more persistent, more dangerous, and Natsume stopped trying to deny his humanity. His memories started to slip away, and Natsume let them go, choosing to forget his past life and his kind father. It only hurt, to remember such things, as they were starting to sound more and more ridiculous even to Natsume's own ears.

 _Maybe it's better this way,_ Natsume started to think, covering his ears as the arguing of his foster parents creeped underneath his door. The ayakashi hiding in the patterns of the ceiling grinned, slithering down the wall to peer into Natsume's eyes. "Human childddd," it rasped. "You can see me, can't you?" _Maybe it's the ayakashi that are more dangerous…_

It was a conviction that just got stronger and stronger. If Natsume pretended that all, not just some, of his blood was human and smiled and if he didn't jump at what other humans saw as shadows, he was treated kindly. All humans seemed so kind and nice, because it was Natsume imposing on them so… so it was always his fault if anything went wrong. But ayakashi, no matter what, they tried to hurt him. He was stalked and constantly scared by one youkai that hung out in a tree on Natsume's way to school for a few months in a city, and after that it seemed that each family he moved on to there was always something watching him. The scariest one was the white woman with the one eye that watched him and whispered kind things, entreating him to leave with her and vanish into the forest. Perhaps ten years ago Natsume would have accepted the offer in a heartbeat, but when she threatened to eat his family… when suddenly, someone appeared that sounded like they might want the strange boy who did nothing but cause trouble… Natsume sealed her and never looked back.

That was his first time getting actual blood tests in a hospital in a long while, and Natsume remembering relief swelling through him when the doctors didn't notice anything strange that year as well. His secret was safe. No, better than safe: even if Natsume wanted to, no one would believe him that he was an ayakashi, human or otherwise.

And he was okay with that now. It was better that way.

And it was like this that Natsume arrived at the Fujiwara household, and that was really the start of it all.

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Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this story. Although at first, the plot is very similar to the original story, there will be lots of changes later on. Also, although I will always use English when possible, some words like "youkai," "ayakashi," and name endings (-san, -sama, etc.) are unavoidable to correctly convey some things.

Not sure when I'll update or how frequently... tbh I just wrote this chapter in one quick go and liked it too much not to post it. I'll probably get inspired when I have free time or when season six really gets going, but no promises for now haha. Most chapters might be episodic similar to the show. Some episodes will be skipped entirely or mentioned in passing, as nothing is changed, but some that have more impact will be covered in more depth.


	2. First Contact

_Ever since I was little, I have seen strange things. These are beings known as youkai, but the strangest thing of it all is that the humans are somehow able to see me._

The Fujiwaras were kind people. It had been barely a day since they had taken Natsume under their wing, and he already could tell that they were different. He was sure of it.

Natsume set his single box down in the upstairs room, surveying the empty space as he sighed in relief. No ayakashi yet, it seemed. An unpleasant sensation of being watched had started ever since he entered the strangely nostalgic town, but Natsume was determined that this time, he would behave flawlessly. No one would notice him jumping at random or arguing with air.

He rubbed his wrist, a white bandage still in place from the incident two weeks ago with that white ayakashi. A breeze rattled the window, and Natsume turned to open it and stare out onto the unfamiliar town. School started tomorrow for him, and he was entering the year in the middle of it all. He hoped that there would be someone friendly in his class.

"I'm already fifteen, huh," Natsume said to himself, leaning his head out to feel the breeze. "I wonder if this place is near to that forest."

The wind gave him no answers, a small wind chime clinking gently at him instead. Downstairs, he could hear Fujiwara Touko, his new foster mother, call for him.

"Coming!" He yelled, latching the window shut and leaving the room with a second glance back. After all, who knew what would enter the room if the window wasn't shut…

* * *

"Hello, my name is Takashi Natsume. Please take care of me," Natsume said, bowing slightly to the class. His bow hid his slightly furrowed brow and his nervous, darting eyes, an expression which he smoothed into a practiced easygoing grin as he straightened up. "I hope to have a great year with everyone."

"Right, Natsume-kun," the teacher said, nodding at him. "Your seat is by the window, behind Nishimura."

Natsume nodded, moving towards the seat in question. The kid in front, Nishimura, grinned at him, one arm on the back of his chair as he watched Natsume settle in and start placing his books on the desk.

"Psssst, hey," the guy whispered, his voice too loud to be inconspicuous. "I'm Nishimura, ask me if you've got any questions, yeah?"

Natsume started ever so slightly, meeting Nishimura's gaze. He wouldn't look left. "Thanks," Natsume replied quietly, smiling slightly. "I'll be in your care."

He didn't dare look left.

* * *

When Natsume returned home, he took his shoes off and entered the house. It was quiet; no one else was there. A quick glance around revealed a note with a notice that Natsume's host mother had gone shopping, and he was free to help himself to anything in the fridge if he was hungry. A slight smile tugged at Natsume's mouth, before he headed upstairs to change out of his school uniform.

He slid open his door and startled, jumping back as the wide eyes of an ayakashi narrowed in on his face from where it was by the window, one hand slipped through the cracks as it tried to open it all the way.

Fear bubbled in the back of Natsume's throat, and he lunged forwards. "Hey!" He yelled, attempting to grab the ayakashi as it yanked its arm out of the latch and backed up a few meters in the air, hovering there as it kept staring at him expectantly. Its mouth moved, forming words that only itself could hear, and Natsume stood there, chest heaving, as he watched it for a second. Natsume's eyes narrowed, and he eyed it. "Don't enter this house and cause trouble for the people here," He said flatly. "If you're going to bother me, do it elsewhere."

He turned, expecting no reply and receiving none, to unpack his stuff, change, and quickly head downstairs. He wanted to look around the town anyways, and maybe it would get that ghost-like ayakashi away from the house. Just as he was leaving and locking up, he looked up towards his window. The black ayakashi that had been staring in from outside the window was still there, in the corner of his vision, when Natsume finally turned and left.

* * *

Something seemed strange.  
Natsume could, like many other ayakashi, smell the presence of others. It was a handy skill for keeping away from them, but never before had Natsume sensed so many- and yet so far every single one on his walk had remained out of sight.

Well, up until now, that is.

" _Reiko,_ " the black ayakashi moaned, curling and weaving around trees, white blank eyes tracking Natsume's every movement. It had appeared a little bit after he had left, following him just as he had thought. " _Reiko, give it to me._ "  
The hair on the back of Natsume's neck stood up, and he could smell the scent of at least twenty other lesser youkai hidden behind the trees and under the bushes. Waiting, watching, the very air teeming with anticipation.

"I presume," Natsume said, slowly, deliberately, turning around to face the ayakashi. "That you are talking of my grandmother?"

The ayakashi merely blinked at him, not comprehending, before a thin line of white ripped across its face, a mouth full of sharp teeth cracking open. _"Reiko,_ " it merely hissed again, right before it dove at him.

Natsume didn't move; he waited until it was half a meter from his face and lashed out, a quick jab between the eyes enough to send it howling into the denser part of the forest. He watched it go, rubbing the back of its head, and suddenly very conscious of the many eyes watching him. Natsume sighed, made a note to figure out where the closest shrines were, and turn to head home the long way.

Just in case.

* * *

The first month seemed to fly by; Natsume kept carefully quiet in class. There were more incidents like the first, unfortunately, and Natsume wondered if it was really such a good idea to be in this town. It was dangerous for so many eyes to be on him, always watching, always ready to find out the dirty truth about the half human among their midst, not to mention safety to the people kind enough to be around Natsume. And… The concept of family seemed almost strange after all these years, albeit in a good way. A way that made Natsume long to have met his grandmother. Would it have been different for him, having a human that cared about him, that knew about his past and blood? He knew that she had died young, even for a human, but what happened before that? What human would have possibly wanted to have a bloodline of people fated to be unable to fully exist anywhere?

It didn't make sense. And for several weeks, Natsume pondered over this, not realizing until the day he fell and broke a seal by accident that the answer to his questions had been right beside him all along.

Shrines were convenient; the air around them might have been uncomfortable to Natsume, but at least other ayakashi kept far away. (Natsume never could decide to say "us" or "them" for ayakashi; really it shifted in his thoughts all the time, like the tides of the ocean. He was one of them, but at the same time he most certainly was not.)

Normally, Natsume didn't start the day off by being harassed all day in school by a few smaller ayakashi before being chased by two very large and very dangerous ones on the way home. Natsume was lucky they hadn't managed to rip out his tongue. But today was most certainly not a normal day, he realized with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

As he sat there, chest still heaving from his frenzied dash through the woods, all of his instincts were screaming at him to run right back towards the other dangerous ayakashi… all because of this small good luck cat.

"…" The two of them sized each other up, Nastume tense and wary of the cat while it considered him with a curious stare.

"My, what does a youkai like you want with me?" The cat said, studying Natsume and stepping closer. "You're quite cheeky, not running away or anything. Is it because you're brave, or just stupid?"

Natsume shuddered, a shiver running down his spine. "I'm not a youkai," he said flatly, mouth tasting like ash. He averted his eyes, studying his hands as he nervously waited for the cat to attack him as the other youkai and ayakashi all inevitably seemed to.

The cat, however, just blinked, nose twitching as it sat down. "Hm? Now that you mention it… wait, aren't you Natsume Reiko?"

Natsume shook his head slightly, slightly relieved the conversation had shifted. He looked up, letting the cat see his face closer. He knew it must be because most ayakashi hadn't spent time among many humans to be able to tell the small difference, but still, this was ridiculous. Clearly he smelled different than what he imagined his grandmother had, or at least had some kind of obvious difference in appearance. "No. I'm her grandson."  
"Ah. Now that I look, you are a male, after all." The cat circled around him, then looked out over the shrine.

Unable to help himself, Natsume's gaze followed where the cat was looking. "Did you know her?"

"Yes. She lived near here. She was quite the beautiful human." The cat's eyes squinted, something dancing in his eyes. "And just like you, she could see ayakashi. But the humans around her could not, so no one understood. She was alone. Always, always alone."

Natsume glanced away again, hands tightening into fists as he pretended to be studying the trees. "You don't know what happened to her?"  
"No. She moved on, I believe, around the time I was sealed in that box. Rude humans," the youkai snorted. "Hm… that reminds me. Do you know of the Book of Friends?"

Natsume blinked, and his mind flashed back to the small book he had taken from his home. "The Book of Friends?" He repeated instead. _Why would my father have something if it wasn't important to ayakashi,_ he realized, but by accident he missed the narrowing of the cat's eyes and small smirk.  
By the time he looked back, the cat was gone.

Later, he would look back and wonder about it. Nyanko-sensei, as the strange youkai was later renamed, or Madara if he was being more formal about it, agreed to help Natsume return the strange names written on the inside of the notebook. It was a wild series of events, but nothing could ever, ever explain what Natsume had felt when his new peculiar bodyguard had promised to watch over him as long as he lived, or when he had glimpsed his grandmother for the first time.

Yes, within that one strange, fateful day, Natsume finally achieved what he was looking for: a link. A way to connect to those around him, including his grandmother's very memories. Natsume stirred, rolling over to study the sleeping cat youkai next to him and, all alone in his room, smiled. It was kind of nice, he thought, reaching out to rub Sensei's head. The cat twitched and mumbled, something about food and sweet buns that made Natsume chuckle. It was amazing how fast he had come to trust this youkai, the scent that had scared him a mere twelve hours ago already feeling safe and welcoming. _He_ was amazing.

Maybe one day he could get close enough to entrust his secret to someone else. But that wasn't now, may not be ever, not when Natsume could still clearly recall the chill and knot of terror and anxiety build at the very insinuation that he was anything other than human.

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Honestly, this chapter was really hard for me to write. I know where I want to go after I set everything up, but this spot seemed super hard to write in particular. Not sure if I like the end result still, but I'm determined to move onwards with the plot!  
I'd like to give a huge thanks to everyone that's followed and commented so far too? Like, there have been so many nice comments and stuff that I couldn't give up if I tried. I never expected so much attention just for chapter one! (There's about 120 follows for one chapter like whaaaat.) This chapter wouldn't have been possible without you guys!  
I've decided that I hate trying to get the dialogue exactly like the manga or anime, so I'm going to go ahead and timeskip whatever is the same as the anime. Assume any gaps follow pretty much the same way as they did in the series. I have my own parts to get to!


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